Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I'm reading a book my buddy Lyn recommended--she of "Lynilu" and a frequent visitor here--called "A New Kind of Christianity."

I opened the book randomly, and my eyes fell on a paragraph which described the extension, over time, of man's understanding of god. Here's the phrase which caught my eye: "...our successive best." I take this to mean that each of us builds upon the insights of those who came before. As we each do our best to add to the understanding, acknowledging the work of those who came before us and upon which our own work begins, this phrase fits wonderfully.

In some ways, it harkens to my own beginning thought each morning when I awaken: Start where you are. What day of the week is it, what plans are in place for the day, what work do I need to fit in around existing plans, and, most importantly, where do I hope to be by the end of the day? Walking is great, but walking toward is better.

Tomorrow morning when I awaken, "start where you are" will find me in a different place at least in my own mind...and on the calendar, of course.

The germane issue tomorrow morning will not be if I am in the right place, but whether or not I recognize where I am. It's a small thing, but vitally important. As much time, energy, and angst as most of us invest in reviewing things and beating ourselves up or bemoaning our fate, many of us don't note where we are RIGHT NOW.

While it might seem otherwise in the aftermath of some human event we lived through recently and are still processing in our emotional bodies, the single-most critical few seconds we can invest are those needed to jerk ourselves out of our memories and into full presence.

2 comments:

As time goes on, I'm struck over and over at the similarity of our thought patterns, Rick. We express it differently, but the direction is clearly similar.

It's pretty simple .... If you try to start elsewhere, you will be miserable, confused, frustrated. Slow down and let yourself find where you are before you jump. So many of us don't allow ourselves to stop and think before launching ourselves in a direction.

About Me

Welcome to my front porch. Set a spell, have some tea but don't get the porch swing goin' too fast. Aunt Elma dang near got killed when her boys had her swingin' so fast she 'bout fell out. Crazy woman was laughin' the whole time, too!
Email: rickhamrick@gmail.com